History of Seychelles

The history of the Seychelles is the story of a counting to Africa archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the ( rural ) areas and population smallest independent state in Africa is as the Republic of the Seychelles, as well as the history of their French and British colonial past.

History of Seychelles

It is likely that the Seychelles were occasionally sighted before the arrival of the first Europeans by Arab traders and also visited. However, it has been hitherto no permanent settlement of the islands.

Discovery and early colonial

From a European perspective, the islands were discovered in 1502 by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama. From 1505 she appeared on European charts without the European nations showed interest in taking possession or bases on the remote island group. On January 19, 1609 British ship Ascension, which belonged to an expedition of the British East India Company, the main island of the Seychelles reached. The crew mistakenly believed himself to Amiranten. It provided himself with food and drinking water, visited several islands and made of cards. On 1 February 1609, Ascension sailed on. It took another 133 years until the Seychelles again came into the focus of European seafaring. 1742 sent the governor of the then French colony of Mauritius, Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, also an expedition there. The main island of Mahé received his honor their names. A second French expedition in 1756 finally took the islands formally for France in possession and gave it its present name in honor of the former French finance minister Jean Moreau de Séchelles. Only in 1770 the French took possession of the islands actually. French settlers, often poor whites from the French colonies in Mauritius, Réunion or French possessions in India, began on the main island Mahé to farm and grow spices among others. For this work, they brought black slaves from the mainland and settled in the next 40 years, other islands of the group.

The colonization of the islands by the French may also have been a result of competition with the British, and in the wake of the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century changed the rule about the Seychelles seven times between the two powers. Legendary was the French Governor de Quinssey who kept ready to hand, both the French and the English flag and appropriate uniforms, depending on whether English or French ships anliefen the islands. 1811, the British captured the island and founded Victoria, today's capital and only city in the Seychelles. 1814 saw the French in the Treaty of Paris, the British rule over the islands which was managed from there by the now British Mauritius, finally on.

1835 abolished the British colonial administration from slavery on the islands. At this time the population consisted of 680 white (or mestizo ) landowners and 6,600 slaves. The abolition of slavery led to the conversion of agricultural food production to less labor-intensive products such as copra and cinnamon trees and the emigration of several settlers. In the following decades, Africans came for it in large numbers on the islands, which were liberated by British warships of slaver ships. In smaller numbers also Indians, Chinese and Malays came to the Seychelles. 1903 Seychelles was administratively separated from Mauritius and for independent crown colony.

British Crown Colony (1903-1976)

Part of the internal self-government of the colony was known as the Legislative Council. The right to participate in the elections this was bound to 1959 on possession of the potential voters. Only after 1959 a greater proportion of the population could participate in these elections. At the elections in 1963 were with the Seychelles Taxpayers and Producers Association and the Seychelles Iceland United Party of the first parties of the Seychelles. In the same year the United Party was founded, which was in contrast to the first-mentioned parties are not dominated by the citizens of the United Islands. In 1964 this party from the Seychelles Democratic Party under the leadership of the lawyer and later first president, James Mancham. Mancham sought a close connection to the UK, even after a possible Unabhängiglkeit. With the Seychelles People's United Party under France- Albert René Mancham grew a radical competition, which began in early complete independence.

Half the seats were still occupied by the colonial administration in the 1967 held the first general elections. Manchams Seychelles Democratic Party won the selectable seats with a slight lead over France- Albert René SPUP. The following elections in 1970 and 1974 won Mancham with increasing lead. In March 1970 met in London together representatives of the colonial administration and the two leaders ( Mancham and Rene ), to discuss a constitution for the Seychelles. While René spoke out for the Unabhängigkleit, Mancham advocated a closer connection to the United Kingdom. On the basis of the new constitution, Mancham was with the 1970 election head of government of the British continue to Seychelles. In 1974, both politicians and party blocks were in favor of the independence of the islands. Mancham and Rene were in negotiations with the British on together and jointly led the country to independence.

Part of the independent Republic was again the atolls of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroche who had been since 1965 part of the British Indian Ocean Territory ( BIOT ) by negotiation.

Republic ( since 1976)

On June 29, 1976 Mancham became his prime minister with the country's independence, and President René. Both cooperation ended on June 5, 1977, when the traveled to a summit conference of the Commonwealth to London Mancham in a coup by 60 armed supporters of the People's United Party (mostly members of the party militia ) was deposed and René took his place. René justified the coup by claiming that Mancham had wanted to postpone the upcoming elections in 1979 to avert its threat of losing power.

The new government called himself a socialist, and was influenced by the ideas of the neighboring socialist Tanzania. From Tanzania also military came to the personal protection of the new president. René loosened the ties to the UK on, leaned on to France and took advantage of the competition between the superpowers USA and the Soviet Union in the Indian Ocean. In 1978 he created a single party, the Seychelles People's Progressive Front, in 1979, he continued the process of concentration of political power with a new constitution. Between 1978 and 1983 he survived five coup attempts. The best known was the attempted coup of 1981, when a mercenary army of 50 men, led by Mike Hoare tried to take power. An examination of the United Nations made ​​the South African apartheid regime, which also ransomed the mercenaries later, responsible for the attempted coup. The regime was René certain social progress as well as marked by human rights violations.

During the general democratization of African states he gave the one-party state from 1991 on. The first multiparty elections since 1974 were held in 1993. In the presidential elections, he sat down with 59.5 % against the previous year by returning from exile Mancham. The parliamentary elections his party won 27 of the 33 seats. In 1998 he received in the elections 66.67 % of votes in Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles National Party (SNP ) with 19,53 % and Mancham with 13.8%. The SPPF remained the dominant party with 30 of 34 seats. He played his final choice from 31 August to 2 September 2001. He won this time with 54.19 %, while Wavel Ramkalawan received 44.95%. His party won 23 of the 34 seats. On 24 February 2004, he announced his resignation in favor of his old henchman and President since 1996 Vice President James Alix Michel. Since April 1, 2004, James Alix Michel President of Seychelles.

Governors of the British colony of Seychelles

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